"Thank you, thank you so much! I can't believe you actually found the lost statue of the seven. You are truly amazing!"
The next day, when Lumine and Durandal carried the statue of the seven back, the entire Church of Favonius was stirred. All the sisters came to the plaza where the statue of the seven was located and saw the long-lost statue of the seven.
Barbara couldn't hold back first, grabbing Lumine's hands and shaking them up and down excitedly, continuously uttering words of praise.
"Oh my~ It was nothing, really. We just found this statue of the seven in a ruin, and remembering what you said about a lost statue of the seven, we brought it back."
Facing Barbara's thanks, Lumine was actually quite embarrassed, as this statue of the seven was originally destined to be destroyed.
If Durandal hadn't removed the Abyss Order's aura from it, Lumine wouldn't have brought the statue of the seven back, so the greatest credit should go to Durandal.
But Durandal had no intention of accepting praise and let Lumine handle the matter. Anyway, she was already used to dealing with the Knights of Favonius, so she would leave the rest to Lumine, as she had other things to do.
What was she going to do? The scene shifted. Durandal found Venti, who was slacking off, sleeping in his usual spot, on the tree at Windrise.
This guy... he really was carefree, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
Durandal extended her right hand, and as a dark purple light flashed, a chain appeared in her hand.
With the appearance of the chain, chains also appeared in the shadowed areas of the branches. Before Venti could react to what was happening, the chains quickly bound him securely.
And in an inverted hanging position, Venti was suspended from the branch. Because the chains were tied quite tightly, there was no indecent exposure.
Because this situation happened so fast, Venti didn't react at all to what was happening. Perhaps because he had been hanging upside down for too long, with blood pooling in his head, Venti slowly woke up from his sleep.
He looked at Durandal in front of him with confusion, realizing that she was different from usual; she was upside down.
At first, he thought Durandal wanted to perform something different, but he quickly realized that it wasn't Durandal who was upside down, but himself.
"What... what's going on!? Why am I tied up? And hanging upside down from a tree? What do you want to do to me?"
Durandal had tied him up before, but those were always normal bindings. This inverted hanging method was a first.
"Nothing much. It's just that during my recent travels, I found a statue of the seven that had been stolen by the Abyss Order, and that statue of the seven was hanging upside down. I thought this pose suited you quite well, so I tried it out."
"If you're going to experiment, don't use me! This upside-down feeling is so uncomfortable, hurry and let me down."
Venti vigorously swayed her body, and because her movements were too large, the chains made her swing back and forth, like a swing.
"Shouldn't you be concerned about the stolen statue of the seven? The Abyss Order is using your statue for very dangerous things."
"Eh? The Abyss Order stole my statue? Did that happen?"
Venti stopped struggling and looked at Durandal with a puzzled expression. This was the first time she had heard of it; her statue had actually been stolen by the Abyss Order.
When the statue was stolen, Venti was still in a deep slumber, so she naturally didn't know about it.
It's just... Durandal was a little displeased that Venti was still so unhurried after learning that the statue of the seven had been stolen.
Venti probably didn't know the Abyss Order's purpose in stealing her statue, but she should have at least realized that nothing good could come of it.
But what was the result? Her indifferent attitude made Durandal a little angry. She had originally just wanted to hang her up for fun, but now she had changed her mind.
She skillfully squatted on the ground and soon found an Electro Slime and a Slime Condensates.
These two Slimes obediently stayed in Durandal's hand, not daring to make any movement, but they were genuinely happy that Durandal could summon them.
Hmm? What kind of look is that? Is there something wrong with that sentence? Haven't you seen how happy the Slimes are, almost crying?
"Ah~ Slime impact, it's been a long time since I've experienced that."
Seeing the familiar Slimes appear in Durandal's hand, Venti immediately understood what Durandal wanted to do, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
The next second, that smile vanished, followed by continuous pleas for mercy, and the terrible feeling of her clothes getting wet from the liquid produced by the Slime Condensates.
Honestly, was Durandal really not doing it on purpose? Venti wondered if she had traveled with Lumine for too long and learned bad habits from her.
This punishment lasted for more than ten minutes, and after it ended, Venti's clothes were soaked.
She wanted to use Anemo to dry her clothes, but Durandal wouldn't allow her, saying that it would defeat the purpose of the punishment and that she needed to stay in that state for a while.
"Really, I'm a Damselette after all. Maintaining this appearance is a very dangerous thing, you know."
As the Anemo God, Venti was certainly not so delicate as to catch a cold from wearing wet clothes.
But she had appeared in a female form, and because her clothes were wet, her already prominent features became even more noticeable.
Especially the two Slimes on her chest, which would jiggle with her movements from time to time, and one could clearly see what style she was wearing today.
To make herself look more alluring, Venti even deliberately made some cute movements, trying to make Durandal understand that her charm was still great.
But they had known each other for so many years and understood each other inside and out. Faced with Venti's actions, Durandal felt nothing, and even a little disdain.
"Honestly, there's no romance at all. When I perform in Mondstadt, I occasionally get chatted up. Why don't you react at all?"
"Why should I react? What kind of reaction do you want from me?"
Well, Venti was very helpless. She couldn't very well say she wanted to see an interesting expression from Durandal, as she would probably be hung up again if she did.
Ah~ I really envy Lumine. Even though the time she spent with Durandal is a fraction of the time I've spent with Durandal, their relationship can become so good.
Wait a minute! Could it be... could it be that because they are too familiar with each other, Durandal doesn't react no matter what I do?
ε=(´ο｀*))) Alas~ What a pity. Fortunately, they still have a lot of time, and Durandal has also become more humane than before.
There's nothing she can do now, but she'll slowly get along with her in the future. She believes that her enthusiasm will one day influence her.
In the end, Durandal still allowed Venti to dry her clothes, otherwise the conversation really couldn't continue.
The two sat in front of the statue of the seven at Windrise. Durandal took out a glass of sweet wine and Venti's favorite dandelion wine, and they chatted while drinking.
"Hehe~ I've wanted you like this for a long time. You've finally become my drinking buddy, Durandal."
Venti was so moved she was almost in tears. She had wanted Durandal to be her drinking buddy for a long time, but unfortunately, Durandal wasn't very interested in alcohol, so this plan had never been able to proceed.
Just as she was about to give up, Durandal proactively joined in, and her wish was finally fulfilled. Her other wishes also had a chance of coming true.
"Don't say strange things. You still haven't answered me, why did the Abyss Order steal the statue of the seven?"
Isn't that just an ordinary statue? Why would the Abyss Order go to such great lengths to steal it?
Moreover, the statue of the seven could actually condense the power of the Abyss Order, and when combined with the eyes of the "world's first plowing machine," it could serve as the base for a mechanical God, granting it the power to overturn Celestia.
Venti unhurriedly took a sip of dandelion wine, exhaled contentedly, and under Durandal's displeased gaze, she swirled her wine glass.
"I don't know what the Abyss Order wants to do. However, the statue of the seven does contain some kind of power, otherwise, each nation wouldn't have built so many statues of the seven."
"Didn't the Traveler say that she obtained elemental power by touching the statue of the seven? If the statue of the seven were just a simple statue, do you think she could obtain elemental power so easily?"
Besides obtaining elemental power from the statue, Lumine could also heal injuries in front of it. According to the Church of Favonius sisters, this was a gift from the God.
However, the healing from the statue had its limits, otherwise, the doctors in this world would be out of a job. Anyone who got injured could just go to the statue to receive healing.
The Abyss Order also saw the power contained within the statue of the seven, which is why they tried every means to steal the statue and use it as an important part of their plan.
"Is that so? Then what kind of power does the statue of the seven actually have?"
"I don't know," Venti said very directly.
Seeing Durandal's expression turn displeased again, she quickly explained, "I'm really not messing with you, I genuinely don't know what specific power it has."
Although the statue of the seven contained her power, Venti truly didn't know what was contained within the statue.
If she wanted to fool Durandal, she could come up with many things to say, but she didn't want to do that, so she could only say she didn't know.
Durandal saw that Venti didn't know the reason, and it was meaningless to continue to act against her, so she didn't make a move, only refilled her dandelion wine.
"Recently, the Lantern Rite Festival in Liyue is about to begin. After the Lantern Rite Festival, it will be the Windblume Festival in Mondstadt. Before you two go to Inazuma, remember to come and participate, okay?"
Venti leaned against Durandal, rubbing her arm intimately, and said, "In the past, when I invited you, you always refused my invitations for various reasons. This time, you won't refuse, right?"
At that time, Durandal hadn't yet undergone her change, so she was unwilling to go to crowded places.
Now it was different. Now, she would definitely agree to her.
"...I will participate."
Receiving Durandal's affirmative answer, Venti showed a sweet smile, as happy as a Children who had received candy.
"Mm! Hehe~ When that day comes, I'll organize a training class to teach people how to write poems to earn wine. At that time, I'll teach you how to write too."
"Too troublesome. No."
"Eh~ it's very interesting. You'll know once you participate."
"No."
"Don't say that. Trust me, I guarantee you'll like it."
"Your guarantee has no credibility whatsoever."
"Honestly~"
The two friends, who had known each other for a thousand years, got along as amicably as ever. Durandal routinely disliked Venti, and Venti played the fool as usual.
This was how they interacted; they were the best of friends.
Their peaceful coexistence was as always, but... this feeling had long since warmed in Venti's heart.
Originally, she only wanted to open her friend's heart, but in the process of trying, she unknowingly fell in, irrevocably so.
She didn't envy Lumine; compared to ordinary people, she and Durandal still had a lot of time together.
Thinking of this, Venti flashed a brilliant smile, chuckled as he took a sip of fine wine, then collapsed onto Durandal's lap and drifted off to sleep.
Normally, Durandal would definitely give this mischievous fellow a punch.
But this time, she didn't. Instead, she reached out and gently stroked his hair, muttering softly.
"Honestly."
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